SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a protocol for securing Internet communications, and was created in 1995 to protect privacy, data integrity, and authentication on the Internet. This protocol encrypts data transmitted over the Internet to prevent anyone who intercepts the data from reading or tampering with it. SSL also authenticates web servers to ensure users are communicating with the intended website.
SSL’s successor, TLS (Transport Layer Security), is now the industry standard for Internet encryption, and is the updated version of SSL. The new name merely refers to the change in ownership from Netscape to the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), yet SSL still maintains enough name recognition to merit referring to the security protocol as TLS/SSL. The two names are often used interchangeably, but the original SSL is considered outdated and insecure.
To implement SSL (or more accurately, TSL), websites need an SSL certificate, which is like an ID card that proves a website’s identity. SSL certificates contain the website’s public key, which is used to encrypt data sent to the website. There are different types of SSL certificates, including single-domain, wildcard (which includes subdomains), and multi-domain. SSL certificates also have different validation levels, such as domain validation, organization validation, and extended validation.
Businesses can obtain SSL certificates from certificate authorities or use free SSL certificates from providers like Cloudflare. Implementing SSL is important for protecting user privacy and preventing cyber attacks.
Looking to learn more? We suggest heading over to Cloudflare’s Learning Center for an in-depth look at about SSL.
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